Melodies - Septiplier AU
by Filaceous
Summary: An 18-year-old exchange student Sean McLoughlin meets Mark Fischbach who's charming, snarky, and sings like an angel. Sean and Mark agree to make a band in hopes of someday moving to L.A. to try and make it big time.
1. Chapter 1

To say the least- Sean needed to take a leak. It was 6th period, just 30 seconds before the lunch bell rang and he'd been holding it all day.

To backtrack a bit here- Sean was an exchange student- he'd moved here from Ireland and had been planning on going to college somewhere in L.A. when he graduated. He'd stay in Cincinnati for the remainder of his last year of high school and he'd be home free, able to go to college wherever he wanted. He really wanted to go somewhere with his musical abilities- but how? He only knew how to play the drums and he was pretty mediocre at playing the guitar.. and he sure as hell couldn't sing- well, not professional quality, anyway. He had months to worry about college, and- really, the only thing that mattered to him at this point in time was relieving the pressure to his bladder. As soon as that bell rang he was shoving himself through crowds of people to get into a stall and finally, finally relieve himself. It wasn't but 10 seconds later he heard someone else enter the bathroom and- it was oddly quiet for about 15 seconds until he heard a zip being undone and- holy shit, was.. was that guy singing?

Yes. Not only was that guy singing, but he was also really, really good at it. Holy shit. Holy shit, is the only thing Sean could think of. He had to see who it was, but how would he do that? He leaned against the stall door to peer through and- he must have forgotten that these doors don't lock very well. He pushed the door right open and nearly stumbled into the kid's back. Talk about awkward. "Ah- fuck, man, I'm so sorry!" His accent came out thick and he was stuttering like nobody's business. He was red from his nose to the tips of his ears. The taller of the pair just looked at him for a moment- then grinned. "Oh- you're the exchange kid, aren't you? Cool. I've heard talk about you." and with that, he was doing his zipper and walking to the sinks. He motioned for Sean to follow. He did. "What's your name?" he asked, and wow his voice was mesmirizing. Sean jumped when he realized that he was being asked a question, and he ran a hand through his own choppy brown locks. "Sean! My name's Sean, but.. m'family calls me Jack. Don' ask why, 'cause I dunno." The other nodded and turned on the water to rinse his hands. "Jack. I like that, alright. My name's Mark- and, uh, you can call me Mark.. I'd rather not have a conversation in the bathroom, so, uh.. you wanna sit with me at lunch or something?" Sean smiled at the offer, giving a meek nod in response.

Mark had lead Sean to a mostly-empty table once they'd gotten their food, sitting down next to him. The food looked a lot less appetizing than it did at his old school- but he wasn't really picky. He was basically a human vacuum- but aren't all boys? Mark was digging into his food already, to answer that question. Mark gave a small smile over to the pale brunette, swallowing his food before speaking. "So, it must be weird moving to a totally different country for school.. You think you're gonna stay here?" Sean thought over the question for a moment, before nodding. "Ye'h, I'd like t'think I'm stayin'- maybe not in Cinci, but, y'never know. I wanna go to L.A., man." Mark gave a dry little chuckle, seemingly listening to every word that Sean spoke- he seemed really attentive, and Sean genuinely liked that. "What do you wanna do in L.A.?" Mark asked, making Sean pause stuffing his face for a moment to actually chew his food and think. "Music." he blurted after a few moments, making Mark hum and smile softly. "Music, huh? Can ya sing? Or do you play an instrument? Produce?" He set down his plastic fork to fold his hands in his lap, giving Sean his full attention- this made Sean smile. "Drums, mainly. I do a little bit o'guitar, an' I guess I'm not tone-deaf, bu', I'm nowhere near's good as you." Mark raised his eyebrows, and his cheeks went pink at the compliment. "You heard me?" He asked, taken-aback. Sean shrugged his shoulders, giving a half-grin in response. "I heard ya while you was peein'.. sounded really good t'me." Mark smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is that why you fell into me?" Sean only responded with a small laugh before going back to his food.

The day was over at this point, and Mark had offered to let Sean stay over for dinner. Sean was staying by himself in a crappy little apartment they provided, so- he was happy to go somewhere and eat something other than frozen pizza or top ramen. "So," Sean began, looking to Mark. It was autumn, and it was still currently warm enough to walk home in Cincinnati. Mark looked back to Sean as he continued to speak; "What, er.. like, what's yer nationality?" Mark gave a little laugh. "I'm Korean.. my mom's fully Korean. Actually, she just got back from visiting Korea." Sean seemed excited at that. "Aw, man, dat's sweet! I know some Korean, actually- I dated 'dis girl fer a while, she was from Korea." Mark perked up a bit, grinning. "Heh, maybe you could impress my mom when we get home- she'll love you forever, honestly. She likes it when my friends are interested in Korean culture. Gives her something to talk about, I guess." Sean's smile never left his face. "'Dat's awesome, man! I t'ink I'm gonna be hangin' round your house often if dat's the case, heh-" Mark laughed, looking down to Sean. "Psh, that's fine with me." And it certainly was.


	2. Chapter 2

It was Friday. School had just ended and the pair were heading to Sean's. They'd been hanging out all week, and, well- they were honestly becoming pretty close. Mark was kind of.. well, kind of a dork. He didn't hang out with anyone other than a few of the band and choir kids, since he was pretty good at both. Mark had been chattering on about football season and how cold it got in the marching band stands during this time of the year- but their last game was last week. "Dude, you have no idea- imagine holding a cold-ass metal trumpet to your lips in 20 degree weather! It gets cold!" He gave a laugh- that little giggle he does. It always made Sean crack a smile because his laughs were so contagious- so contagious, and it made his cheeks heat up and his heart flutter in his chest every single time without fail. He didn't know why- he didn't usually feel like this around people, but.. maybe it's because he looked up to Mark so much. He was so talented- the way he sung, played his instruments, spoke so confidently and stood so tall- he just, seemed so strong, and confident. Sean was- well, Sean was sort of the opposite. He was weak, quiet.. and, well, he really was only good at playing the drums. Sure, he was loud and excitable sometimes, but- only around Mark. Mark was truly his only friend at this point, and he was so happy to have someone like Mark with him.

When they'd got back to Sean's apartment Mark was still going on about band, whereas Sean was quickly shutting the door and rubbing his hands together for heat. Mark gave a slight chuckle at this. "Aww, what's the matter? Ya cold?" Sean squinted at the taunt, but answered truthfully nonetheless. "I'm fuckin' freezin', man! Ya never told me how cold it gets 'ere!" He wrapped his jacket tight around his torso, plopping down onto the loveseat in the middle of the rather-empty apartment. Mark took this as an invitation to plop right next to him, looking around. "Jeez. It's pretty empty in here, dude- why don't you decorate or something?" Mark looked over to Sean, raising his eyebrows. Sean gave a meek shrug. "I'm too lazy." He retorted. Mark shrugged back. "Seems about right." Sean gave a little laugh, elbowing the other in his side. Mark just stuck his tongue out. He stood back up, snooping around the different rooms in his apartment. There was an audible gasp- then a CRASH of a cymbal. Sean jumped up at the sound, heading into his room- where Mark was standing, drumsticks in hands, staring in awe. Sean just laughed, putting his hands on his hips. "I see y'found me drumkit, huh-..?" Mark looked over to Sean. "Aw, dude, I almost forgot you played- this is sick! You have to play for me, seriously." Mark pushed the drumsticks in Sean's direction, earning a small laugh. "I dunno, man- I'm not really that great." Mark put a finger to Sean's lips, then pointing- rather violently -at the drum kit. Sean just snorted and sat down. "Alright, alright, pushy." Sean huffed, getting himself situated behind the drums. Mark sat at the edge of Sean's bed, waiting. Sean was a little nervous at first but- once he started playing he got really into it and was playing rhythms and patterns and- he was pretty much a natural. After a while he'd forgotten Mark was watching. He stopped when that thought came back to his mind, flushing a light pink. Mark just grinned. "I don't know man, I'm really not great." Mark mocked his words from before, in a high-pitched (and rather stereotypical) irish accent. Sean just laughed and shook his head. "I don't sound like that, ya jerk!"

Eventually, the two had ended up situating themselves on Sean's bed, just- talking. Sean paused for a few moments, looking at Mark. Mark looked back to Sean. "..what?" he murmured, earning a little hum and shrug of the shoulders from Sean. "No, what- ?" He repeated, sitting up a bit to look at Sean. Sean sat up, too. "It's kinda stupid, forget it." Sean replied, earning a grunt from Mark. "Come onnn. Half of the things that come out of your mouth are kinda stupid- just tell me, man!" Mark was literally whining. Sean gasped in mock-offense, giving a little laugh after. "I dunno, was just thinkin'.. what if we started a band?" Sean looked Mark in the eyes when he asked the question, earning a little grin from Mark. "That's not stupid!" He replied, sitting up all the way. Sean was sitting up now, too, raising his eyebrows. "Really now?" He retorted, giving a little laugh at Mark. Mark nodded his head. "Yeah, dude! I can sing, you're amazing at drums- we just need a guitarist and a bass player, and I know all of the people in band and choir- we could totally do this, dude! Come on, let's do it!" Mark was practically jumping as he spoke, making Sean smile. "..alright. Alright, let's do it. If we can get people t'actually join this band- what would we call it?"

They spend all night scribbling down names. Eventually, they turned to the internet, and- they found something that seemed really interesting. Scribbling and revisions and- they found their name. Their name was 'Under Abrasion.' There's really no meaning behind it- they thought it sounded badass. They stayed up until 5 am writing lyrics and just- trying to come up with song titles to work off of. They were having so much fun, they didn't realize how long they were up. They ended up passing out on Sean's bed, notebooks and pens scattered on the floor and lanky limbs tangled together for warmth- honestly, it was great.


	3. Chapter 3

Sean was awake before Mark, and, well- he'd soon found out that Mark really liked to pull things into his chest while he slept. This particular thing had been- well, Sean. Sean's chest was pressed firmly into Mark's with some sort of- death-grip. He liked it, though. He felt so warm- and just, comfortable. He hadn't cuddled like this with someone since he was in Ireland, with his ex- except she never felt this warm. Or buff, but he was sort of glad about that last part- He took this time to.. well, sort of admire Mark. He looked so different when he was asleep- that snarky grin off his face, replaced by a relaxed, almost peaceful look. The way his eyes and lips would twitch every so often, and his lips would part to let out a huff of air- it was beautiful, in a way. If he was an artist, he'd draw a painting of this- just to hang and admire. He smiled softly at the thought. Sean wondered if he looked this nice when he was sleeping.. he hoped so.

It wasn't too long before those eyelids fluttered open, focusing- oh, Sean. Mark gave a small smile, and went to sit up but- soon realized his mishap. His legs were tangled inbetween Sean's and his arms were wrapped pretty firmly around the other's back- He pulled himself away and sat up, giving a chuckle. "Oh. Sorry about that, man. I didn't realize- I do this a lot, ha." Sean sat up, too. Wow- Mark's morning voice was almost as mesmerizing as his singing voice. Almost. Sean gave a little bite to his lip at that, then a shrug. "Don't matter none ta me. S'not like you were humpin' me or somethin'- jus' put yer arms round me." Mark gave a little laugh, pushing his black fringe out of his eyes. "You never know, man. I totally could have humped you and you wouldn't even know it." Sean just laughed, scrunching his nose up in displeasure. "Yer gross, man." Mark replied with a laugh and a gentle elbow to Sean's ribs. When the two finally decided to get out of bed it was nearly two in the afternoon. They headed to the kitchen, where Sean prepared a kettle of coffee. Mark pushed himself up onto the counter to sit and kick his feet. Sean just looked over with a little laugh, raising his eyebrows. "Y'look like a little kid, man- s'funny t'look at, honestly." Mark just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Just havin' fun." Sean just rolled his eyes and carried on with what he was doing.

It wasn't until Monday did they start asking around for people to join their band- I mean, Mark said he had loads of connections- and he did. He even handed out fliers to all the band and choir students. Auditions would be held on Friday after school. They decided they'd do it at Sean's place, since he lived alone and had the drumkit there. When Friday came along there was- at least 20 people in Sean's living room. It was overwhelming. It was crazy. It was- It was fucking awesome! They got through about 10 or so auditions when a particularly great guitar player finally caught their eye- or, well, their ears. His name was Danny and- he was a fucking beast at guitar. He was, without a doubt, their new guitarist. After about 3 more auditions, they found their bassist. Once everyone was thanked for coming and shooed out- well, Mark and Sean basically jumped for joy. This was Sean's dream come true- he was in a band. He just hopes all goes well- then it's off to L.A. for them! He couldn't wait.


	4. Chapter 4

Saturday was the first day they spent together as a band- as a group. They really just hung out and got to know each other, but, it was fun. Next practice they'd work on music. Eventually, when practice was over, Sean and Mark were left sitting on the couch together. They were both so happy, honestly- especially Sean. Sean had been going on for the past 5 minutes about how good of a band they'll be, and how much fun they're all going to have together. Mark just smiled and listened- watching him ramble on. He was honestly sort of.. well, cute when he rambled on like this. It was so beautiful, the way his eyes lit up, and his cheeks went pink, and he just- looked so nice. Sean stopped after a minute. "Did.. a-am I talkin' too much?" Mark immediately shook his head. "Absolutely not! No, I like listening to you. You can keep going, If you want..!" Sean smiled. And he did continue. And Mark did continue to stare at him. It wasn't long before Sean had asked a question to Mark- and Mark, of course, was too busy admiring the other's strong facial features bafore he got a weird look. Mark's cheeks heated up a little, and he gave a meek "What?" In response. Sean raised his eyebrows. "What were you lookin' at?" He asked, earning a nervous chuckle from Mark. "..was just, spacin' out. No big deal. Why?" He looked up at Sean and- Sean just smirked, knowingly. That made Mark's stomach drop. Sean just hummed, giving a small "Right," before carrying on talking. What a tease.

Mark suspected after this, things might be awkward between them- but it was back to normal. Mark was thankful for that. A few weeks later, they'd have their first concert. Mark? Mark was psyched! He'd been performing in front of people since he was young. It was his forte. Sean, however? Well, he had cold feet. He'd never played the drums in front of anyone aside from Mark, his mum, and his brother. Mark just gave a little laugh and wrapped his arms around Sean's shoulders, assuring him that he'll be absolutely great. Sean was hesitant, but agreed to go onstage anyway. When they got onstage- wow. Almost the whole high school was there. They only put up a few fliers, and so many people showed up. Sean smiled at this. Maybe it won't be so bad after all. Their performance was pretty great- being a band who wrote 4 songs in about 3 weeks and got everything down so quickly? It's almost amazing, how well they did. Sure, there were a few mishaps, that's the way the cookie crumbled, but- by the end of the show, everyone was cheering and fuck, did that make Sean happy. When the show was over, Mark slung his arm around Sean's shoulder once again. "I told you you'd be great," He hummed, making Sean laugh and elbow him. The 4 of them decided that they'd sneak off to get some beers- their guitarist happened to be pretty popular in school.. and he certainly had connections. Their bassist was a chick, Amanda was her name.. and she certainly wasn't unattractive- in fact, she was pretty hot -but she was really, really gay. Like, extremely gay. Nobody in that band had even the slightest chance with her. I guess that's why she was popular, really- she was so open and honest about being gay, and everyone could respect that. Sure, not everyone liked it, sure she got made fun of- but everyone respected her, even if they didn't show it.

When Danny had come back with beers, they'd all been sitting in the diner that was just down the street from where they'd performed. Sean grinned- he was the first to grab a beer. He was also the first to finish a beer. In Ireland, the legal drinking age was 18, so he'd drank before. Plenty of times. Mark was drinking his beer rather slowly- his first beer. It was weird, how tipsy he already seemed. He really must have been a lightweight. Everyone else at the table was on their 4th or 5th beer by the time the waitress came over (the restauraunt was busy) and pulled out a notepad to take their orders. Mark gave her these- weird eyes when she approached. Was he.. flirting? He kept biting his lip and looking her up and down when everyone else ordered their food and- she was doing the same back to him. Jesus, he was- he was FLIRTING with this lady. Sean felt a tang of jealousy in his chest. God, he- felt like he was going to cry and puke everywhere at the same time. He tapped his fingers on the table, impatiently. Whenever Mark had finished his order, Sean just muttered out that he didn't want anything and watched as that waitress walked off- curvy hips swinging back and forth with every click-clack of the heel of her shoe. Sean earned a light elbow from the choppy-haired blunette at his side. He glanced over to Amanda when she elbowed him a second time. She raised her eyebrows, mouthing an 'everything alright?' his way. Sean simply shrugged his shoulders and looked back forward, making her frown. She could tell he didn't want to talk, so she didn't bother pressing him any farther about it. Mark glanced at Sean, raising his eyebrows. Sean looked mad about something. He put a hand on Sean's shoulder- and was about to ask what was wrong, too -but he found that hand was quickly shrugged off. Mark winced at that, but decided he'd just let it go.

The waitress came back with everyone's food and drinks, sending a wink in Mark's direction. He licked over his lips and- Sean nearly flipped the whole fucking table, the entire thing when he saw she slipped Mark a piece of paper with 10 digits written on it. That- that bitch. That absolute bitch, that slut- He was only angrier now. He looked over to Amanda, biting his lip. "'Scuse me, can y'let me out? I need t'go to the bathroom." She gave a gentle frown, then a nod, standing from the booth to let Sean squeeze his way out and practically rush to the bathroom. Fuck. He wanted to scream, he wanted to punch something, he wanted to cry, he-.. didn't know why he was so upset. Why? Why did he care that Mark found a hot girl that likes him? Why should Sean care? Was he jealous that he didn't have a girlfriend? No.. no, that's not it. Is it..? No, it can't be. That's just, stupid, that he even thought that. There's no way he's jealous of the waitress, is there? Sean swallowed thickly. He's not going to answer that question for himself. That's just stupid. There's no way. Sean eventually calmed himself down, heading back out of the bathroom to find that Mark was suddenly missing. Where did he go? Sean sat back down on the end, since there was now an empty space and enough room for him to do so. "Where's Mark?" He asked. Danny gave a little laugh. "He's out in that waitress' car or something- they're making out in the backseat. We leavin' without him, or are we gonna wait?" Sean felt his heart drop in his chest. He felt it drop to his fucking stomach- no. There's.. no. Sean looked down to the table, pulling off his beanie to run a hand through his hair. "S'up to you guys. You wanna leave or hang out for a bit?" Danny looked a little confused at the other's sudden change in mood, but answered anyway. "I'd rather be here than home. Besides, I think we're all gonna crash at your place.. since it's only a walk away, and, well, we're all pretty trashed- 'specially Mark. Poor kid's hammered." Danny laughed at his own comments, running a hand through his own long hair.

Mark eventually got back into the restaurant, about 30 minutes later. His hair was a mess and his glasses were askew on his face. Sean couldn't bare to look at him, so he didn't. The next morning would be an absolute mess for all of them. They all headed home soon after, and the moment they got home Sean shut himself in the bathroom and emptied the contents of his stomach into that god-forsaken porcelain bowl for almost an hour- and not (just) because he was drunk. By the time he got out everyone had passed out- Danny on the couch, Mark on the floor, Amanda in his bed- cheeky bitch. He plopped his ass down next to the toilet, closed the lid, and slept right there. The next morning, Sean was the first person awake- probably because it was 5 am and he slept a whole 2 hours. Good. That's good. He sighed and got up, groggily heading to the kitchen. His head was pounding and all he cared about was coffee. He pushed himself up onto the kitchen counter, making himself a cup. This is what he needed. 4 hours later, after hours of sitting in the kitchen and scrolling through his phone, Amanda was awake. Then Danny not long after, probably hearing Amanda wake up. Mark was the last to wake up, about 30 minutes after Danny. Amanda and Danny were conversating and drinking coffee, whereas Sean was trying to avoid any contact with anyone- he felt like shit. Mark smiled over at Sean when he headed into the kitchen, to which Sean looked away. Mark didn't really notice, pouring himself a cup of coffee. The rest of their morning was- awkward, to say the least. It wasn't until about 12 in the afternoon did anything interesting happen- Amanda gave a grin over to Mark and asked a question about- last night. Sean didn't really pay much attention to what she asked, something about fogging up windows- then it came to him. Did Mark just have sex with some girl he doesn't even know? God, he.. he never thought Mark was THAT kind of guy. Mark froze up, laughed after a minute, then pulled down his collar to flash something at Amanda- a dark hickey, right there on the side of his neck. Suddenly, Sean felt sick again. The more they talked about it, the closer Sean felt he was to crying. Eventually he had to leave the room, making some sort of excuse of being hungry so he could go into the kitchen and stop listening to that. He heard footsteps behind him a few minutes later, and the door to the kitchen was opened, and then shut again. He turned. It was Mark. Sean sighed and turned back away. Mark put a hand on his shoulder, turning him back around. "Why're you acting so weird?" Mark murmured, making Sean huff and move away from his hand. "I'm not. Leave me alone, I jus' came in here t'get somethin' t'eat." he retorted, annoyance obvious in his voice. Mark gritted his teeth. "Why're you so mad at me? I don't understand what I did wrong!" Mark was annoyed now, too, which made Sean snap his head back to Mark. Why was Mark getting snappy with him!? He did nothing wrong! Mark's the one who acts like he likes him- stares at him, flirts with him, makes him feel good about himself- then just, crushes that beneath his heel. Sean took a step closer to Mark. "Get out. I told yew t'leave me alone, and I don' want anythin' t'do with you right now. Jus' leave me alone! Go talk to yer girlfriend or somethin'." Mark seemed genuinely confused. "You mean that girl from last night? Why are you mad about that? Did you like her or something? I really don't even like her that much, she just came onto me, man-" Sean cut him off. "No, you were the one who came ont'a her!" Sean was raising his voice now, and Mark's eyes widened. "I don't understand why you're angry! You look like a fucking crazy person right now, what the hell is your problem?" Sean clenched his fists at his sides as Mark spoke. "You! Yer my problem, man! Y'make me feel like a babblin' idiot, and I don' know how to feel around you, ever! From minute one y'pulled this dumb prince charming card on me! Y'compliment me, y'stare at me, y'flirt with me, then y'go an' shag someone in the back of their sleazy BMW! Why do 'ya fuck wit' me head, Mark!?" Sean was shouting now, and it wasn't three whole seconds after Sean stopped speaking that he was pressed back against a wall and swollen, slightly-chapped lips were pressed hard against his. Sean's hands snaked up the other's back and to his raven locks of hair, slender fingers sliding through them and holding tight. Mark pulled away after a few seconds, and it took them both a little while to catch their breaths. "God, I hate you." Was all that Sean murmured before pulling Mark down into another kiss.


	5. UPDATE

Hello! From now on, all of my updates for this story will be posted on AO3! Also, I've been busy with school, but school is out this Friday, so updates should be much more frequent.

AO3: /users/filaceous

Much love! 


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